There are a handful of labs around the world that make a regular business of trying to decipher exactly what actually makes a baby happy (and keeps them happy!) and whether showing a picture of an upside face will attract the attentive gaze of a baby like a regular face will. One of these labs is the Babylab at Sweden’s Uppsala University.

They measure the baby’s eye movements, their gestures, and their brain activity. Essentially these studies are geared to have a better understanding how babies cognition develops in the tender first months; how they develop spatial cognition, how they process object recognition and the development of fine motoring skills like grasping. Yes, grasping. I never really thought about it but grasping is pretty sophisticating stuff for a baby - depth perception, hand-eye coordination, etc.

One of the more high profile studies is the identifying the key markers of autism. This paired with the understanding that early detection and intense therapy of autism can benefit children with the disorder.
[Image Credit: Uppsala University, Sweden]

Sited and Related Links:
The Guardian | Baby Brains and the Mystery of Autism
The Babylab at Uppsala University